W's For the WolfLying flat on the ground,Though when Waltercame near he wasup with a bound.

X Just looks onand has nothing to do,There's no creatureThat claims himThrough-out the whole Zoo.

Y Is the Yak;He's worthy of note;Yvonne was amazedat his long shaggy coat.

Z's For the ZebraThat kept Zoe busy,She counted his stripestill she felt she was dizzy.--Diddily Dee Dots (Maybe?)

This poem was either written or appropriated by somebody calling themselves Diddily Dee Dots. It's hard when I find a perfect poem online, and there's no attribution. I'm probably far over the edge of legal copyright use of poetry, but I tell myself it's mostly all right if it's already out there on the internet, and I give a proper attribution. Oh well...

Peter and I were at the mall the other day, and I saw something that really caught my eye. It was a zip up book with a little stuffed animal for each letter of the alphabet. I thought it was a great idea as a quiet activity, but the price was appalling -- $78! I also thought that the animals were kind of boring because they all looked pretty much the same.

I've been thinking about feverishly making one of these for Elizabeth's birthday, and have pretty much convinced myself that she won't care one way or another whether it's done for the actual birthday. I was also thinking that it would get pretty tiresome to make all those animals myself.

So here's my idea -- please tell me if you think it's doable for you in your present circumstances -- if each of Elizabeth's aunts and uncles (and grandparents and cousins and friends if they feel so inclined) makes a little animal out of felt, that would populate most of the book. If you made the animal 2 or 3 inches tall at the largest, it should only cost about 50 cents to a dollar in supplies (felt and embroidery floss are pretty cheap) , and it could be completed in one evening -- maybe as an FHE activity.

I don't want this to be a burden on anyone, so please feel free to decline the invitation. Also, like I said, it doesn't have to be done in time for her birthday -- that's pretty much impossible at this point -- but it would be nice to have it finished within a few months.

If you would like to participate, please coordinate with me about which letter you'll be making an animal for -- it would be sad if I ended up with 15 aardvarks.

The two pictures below are of the original book, and this link and this one are to give you an idea of the sort of felt animal I'm thinking of. Feel free to get as creative as you want, but if you feel intimidated, then simply cutting out two copies of an outline, stitching around the edge, and putting a little stuffing (or scrap felt) inside, is all I'm really asking for.

Thanks for even considering this. It would be so fun to have something for Elizabeth made by all the people who love her!

Hi there, This is the strange Diddily Dee Dot's Dreamland. I visited your site before Christmas and left a message saying how beautiful it was and saying if you ever get stuck for a poem or Rhyme, just pop over to one of my websites and take one.An awful lot of the pages are written by myself, who has the names seligor, of seligor's castle, diddily of Dodie's World and Diddilydeedot of diddilydeedotsdreamland. those that are not by myself have the author/or anonymous, but all are so old they are well past copyright. I do hope you keep your web site going. To often people start but stop after a short time.Somewhere, I think it may be in Seligor's Castle I have written a poem, a bit like the Antelope but this one is all Welsh Names of people and places in Wales, the country I come from. You would love it. You could match names with States.You will also find a massive amount of Images. A lot are in the photo albums. I don't want to advertise my full web site names but if you would like to write an email to dottido@hotmail.com I will send them to you . You may also notice I do have a real name. Dorothy Milnes-Simm, with 5 children, 19 grand-children and 6 great grand-children, most of whom have forgotten my real name ha ha ha. It was lovely talking to you. Hope your New Year brings you much happiness. hugs Seli. xxx

Hi there, This is the strange Diddily Dee Dot's Dreamland. I visited your site before Christmas and left a message saying how beautiful it was and saying if you ever get stuck for a poem or Rhyme, just pop over to one of my websites and take one.An awful lot of the pages are written by myself, who has the names seligor, of seligor's castle, diddily of Dodie's World and Diddilydeedot of diddilydeedotsdreamland. those that are not by myself have the author/or anonymous, but all are so old they are well past copyright. I do hope you keep your web site going. To often people start but stop after a short time.Somewhere, I think it may be in Seligor's Castle I have written a poem, a bit like the Antelope but this one is all Welsh Names of people and places in Wales, the country I come from. You would love it. You could match names with States.You will also find a massive amount of Images. A lot are in the photo albums. I don't want to advertise my full web site names but if you would like to write an email to dottido@hotmail.com I will send them to you . You may also notice I do have a real name. Dorothy Milnes-Simm, with 5 children, 19 grand-children and 6 great grand-children, most of whom have forgotten my real name ha ha ha. It was lovely talking to you. Hope your New Year brings you much happiness. hugs Seli. xxx